After the next federal election, it seems pretty likely that some new
form of tax will be levied on Canadians to raise money for health care.
Conjecture? Mischief making? Misinformation? Well if you're a supporter
of the federal government you will probably state as much.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Finance Minister
John Manley declined on October 3 to rule out tax hikes, but also
said there was no plan to raise them

In fact this is what the Prime Minister and Finance Minister said just
over two weeks ago when the national press caught wind of a government
trial balloon to raise the GST from 7 per cent to 10 per cent to pay for
anticipated demands for more health care funding. Now, a fortnight later,
Mssrs. Chretien and Manley refuse to categorically rule out a new tax
to fund health care.

Taxpayers deserve better than this type of obfuscation from their politicians.
On the nation's most important issue  the future of our health care
system  one would think our political masters would start to think
"outside the proverbial box."

If simply throwing more tax dollars at health care were the answer to
the system's woes, there would have been absolutely no need for the Kirby
Senate committee or the Romanow Royal Commission travel, consult and study
options for the reform of our health care system.

Moreover it truly is a damning indictment of politicians at all levels
of government who continue to whine for more money or blame their colleagues
when it comes to health care.

In his response to the Throne Speech, the PM trotted out former U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes' often used lined that "taxes
are the price we pay for a civilized society." But how civil a society
are when we spend record amounts of money on health in nominal and real
dollars yet more Canadians than ever before are stuck on waiting lists?
How civil is our society when 21st century technologies (some developed
with our tax dollars) are not used in Canada but are commonplace in other
countries? How civil is our society when we rank near third-world standards
for access to diagnostic imaging tools?

To be fair, both the Kirby committee and the Romanow commission are expected
to call for an augmented direct federal presence in health care as well
as increased indirect financial presence  through larger CHST transfers
 to the provinces. Projected figures range from an extra $4 billion
to $6 billion annually.

Yes, new technologies, pharmaceuticals, demographic pressures, human
resource shortages and patient expectations are all driving costs higher.
But we cannot allow Ottawa or the provinces to simply hike taxes, spend
more money and say they've fixed the problem.

This fall's historic health care reports from Kirby and Romanow afford
us the opportunity to change the debate. We must stop measuring our compassion
and commitment to health care by how much money we spend, either privately
or publicly. Instead we must focus on outcomes and results.

What are we getting for our $102 billion annual health care tab? Are
we reducing waiting lists? Are patient outcomes from cancer treatments
or heart surgeries improving? Are we delivering the best quality care
for those with disabilities or the elderly in need?

If Canadians don't hold Ottawa to account to implement real reforms like
modernization of the Canada Health Act and generational pre-funding while
simultaneously insisting the feds reallocate monies for health care by
ending corporate welfare and other boondoggle schemes, then new taxes
will become a reality.

For 2004/2005, net GST proceeds are pegged at $31 billion. So the PM
was right, he or his successor won't need to raise the GST to 10 per cent
simply hiking the tax to 8.5 per cent would net a cool $6.6 billion.